UK: The government says its Planning and Infrastructure Bill presents a “historic opportunity” to overcome the challenges of the UK’s planning system.
The Bill has been officially introduced to Parliament today (March 11) with the government promising that it will ensure new homes and key infrastructure are built faster and energy security will be bolstered.
The government says it will deliver a “building boom” by ensuring that projects are “freed from unnecessary bureaucracy”. It arrives as part of wider reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework, and the government will hope it will help it meet its target of 1.5 million new homes during the course of this parliament.
Some of the key measures in the Bill are:
• Planning committees: The introduction of a national scheme of delegation that will set out which types of applications should be determined by officers and which should go to committee
• Nature Restoration Fund: Builders can meet their environmental obligations faster and at a greater scale by pooling contributions to fund larger environmental interventions
• Compulsory Purchase Reform: The compulsory purchase process will be improved to ensure important developments delivering public benefits can progress. The reforms will ensure compensation paid to landowners is not excessive
• Development Corporations: Development Corporations will be strengthened to make it easier to deliver large-scale development – like the government’s new towns – and build 1.5 million homes alongside the required infrastructure
• Strategic planning: A system of ‘strategic planning’ will be introduced across England known as spatial development strategies, which will help to boost growth by looking across multiple local planning authorities for the most sustainable areas to build and ensuring there is a clear join-up between development needs and infrastructure requirements
• Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects: Consultation requirements for NSIPs will be streamlined and the national policies against which infrastructure applications are assessed will be updated at least every five years so the government’s priorities are clear
• Clean energy: Further changes will make sure approved clean energy projects that help achieve clean power by 2030, including wind and solar power, are prioritised for grid connections. A ‘first ready, first connected’ system will be introduced.
• Bill discounts: People living within 500 metres of new pylons across Great Britain will get money off their electricity bills up to £2,500 over 10 years. Additionally, new guidance will set out how developers should ensure communities hosting transmission infrastructure can benefit, by funding projects like sports clubs, educational programmes, or leisure facilities.
Deputy prime minister and secretary of state for housing Angela Rayner said: “We’re creating the biggest building boom in a generation – as a major step forward in getting Britain building again and unleashing economic growth in every corner of the country, by lifting the bureaucratic burden which has been holding back developments for too long. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will unleash seismic reforms to help builders get shovels in the ground quicker to build more homes, and the vital infrastructure we need to improve transport links and make Britain a clean energy superpower to protect billpayers. It will help us to deliver the 1.5 million homes we have committed to so we can tackle the housing crisis we have inherited head on – not only for people desperate to buy a home, but for the families and young children stuck in temporary accommodation and in need of a safe, secure roof over their heads. These reforms are at the heart of our Plan for Change, ensuring we are backing the builders, taking on the blockers, and delivering the homes and infrastructure this country so badly needs.”
Commenting on the Bill, Brian Greenwood, partner at Clyde & Co, said: “Whilst a positive development, the UK government must be careful to ensure that its new planning reform bill does not just focus narrowly on house building permissions and major infrastructure consents – albeit reform is much needed. This issue is pervasive across all types of permissions, and the fundamental problem lies not within the planning process itself, but in its execution. Local planning authorities are often understaffed and under-resourced, and it remains to be seen whether proposals to increase funding will stem the delays that are currently being experienced by so many applicants. Moreover, the ‘Not In My Back Yard’ (NIMBY) mentality and local political pressures, where councillors are keen to secure votes, exacerbate the situation – again seemingly being addressed by the Bill, but the proof will be in the small print!”
Brendan Geraghty, CEO of The ARL said: “The Association for Rental Living broadly welcomes the introduction of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and its proposed reforms. We have long called for the reform and investment in the planning system required to reduce barriers and speed up the delivery of both housing and the infrastructure so critical to support it. We especially welcome the proposal for mandatory training for planning committees and certain mayoral planning functions and call upon the Government to include specific training on Build to Rent, in all its forms, as part of this. With the ability to deliver two million additional, quality rental homes, Build to Rent is an essential part of a diversified housing mix, one which the Government itself has explicitly recognised in the revised NPPF, and thus the understanding of the Build to Rent proposition and development dynamics is vital for local planning committees and officials. Pulling the Build to Rent lever is a proven way of increasing the volume and speed of housing delivery, as well as attracting investment into the UK. The Government must now build on these planning reforms to remove barriers to large scale investment in housing and the increase its support of the Rental Living sector.
“The Build to Rent Code of Practice, an Association for Rental Living initiative currently out for industry consultation, mandates, as one of its seven principles, the embedding of professional standards with signatories required to ensure all property management staff participate in Association for Rental Living-recognised qualifications and professional development programs suitable to their roles. We feel this principle should now be applied to the mandatory training proposed in the Planning & Infrastructure Bill and the Association for Rental Living, on behalf of the Build to Rent sector, stands available to the Government to deliver this,” he added.”
Tom Pike, director of planning at Lanpro, said: “Today is a very significant day for the planning and development sector. The government has put a lot of emphasis on growth to date and I believe the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will fundamentally change our industry for the better. It’s a substantial Bill which covers some key areas which have been overlooked for too long. Our clients – from housebuilders of all sizes to large scale infrastructure providers – will welcome these changes.”
On the planning committee proposals, he added: “In my view the proposed reforms to planning committees – as outlined in the government’s working paper in December – is the most significant of the reforms announced today. Maintaining the integrity of the democratic process is fundamental. But, as the slow rate of progress on development to date has shown, there has to be a better way of involving local communities, where beneficial, in decision-making. Today’s proposals strike the right balance in our view by maintaining local involvement and removing what is perhaps the most significant blockage in the system. Democracy is important, but it doesn’t need to operate in duplicate – for example, a development proposal on an allocated site appearing before a planning committee when it has already been through a democratic process.”
Ben Rich, chief executive of Radix Big Tent and member of the RBT Housing Commission, said: “The Bill represents a good first step but continued collaboration and coordination across the housing ecosystem is needed to ensure the Bill is effectively implemented and translates into new homes delivery. That’s why we are giving the Bill seven out of ten.The Bill seeks to put into action many of the Commission’s fifteen key recommendations set out in our report Beyond the Permacrisis – Delivering 1,000 Homes a Day. They include the welcomed reintroduction of strategic planning, compulsory purchase reform and strengthening of the role of Development Corporations. We also welcome the streamlining of planning decisions. The government will, however, need to complement such measures by building consensus and collaboration across government and Parliament for housing delivery, adopting recommendations for a new cross-departmental Housing Delivery Unit and establishing a cross-party accord to create policy consensus. And much more action will be needed to streamline existing funding pots, encourage institutional investment and diversify the market by expanding the role of SMEs and self-commissioned housing. Historically, there has been a real failure to link new housing with infrastructure delivery, so the premise of this Bill is most welcome. However, the scale of the challenge is such that this can only be a first step, if the government is serious about delivering 1,000 homes a day.”
